What is the difference between an MFP and a printer or scanner? Why does someone buy a fax, scanner, printer, copy machine for a small office, while someone prefers to buy a multifunctional multifunction device? The abundance of representatives of technology for printing, scanning, copying documents can lead to a dead end for any novice entrepreneur.

After all, at the beginning of the development of your business, it is necessary to provide for many nuances, plus to all choose the equipment for work. It is important to purchase high-quality devices with a long service life, but also to save as much as possible. In order to determine which of the devices is best purchased for the office, we will deal with the basic characteristics and functions of the MFP and printer.

Printer: functions, purpose, characteristics

A printer is a device designed to print text and graphic objects. By the method of printing, printers are:

  • color - have a palette of three or more colors for outputting paper images in color;
  • black and white - devices designed for monochrome printing.

Depending on the method of printing on paper, the following types of printing devices are distinguished:

  • inkjet - when printing, a printhead is used with the supply of liquid ink through a special nozzle;
  • laser - a laser beam is used to transfer text and images;
  • thermosublimation - in this type of printing, a crystalline dye is used, which, under the influence of high temperatures, goes into a gas state and then transferred to paper.

Printers are used both for printing ordinary text documents, as well as for printing brochures, envelopes, business cards or photographs.

Multifunction devices and their main features

MFP - a device that combines the functions of several units, such as a fax, scanner, printer, copy machine. Moreover, different devices can be endowed with all these functions at the same time or combine only two or three. So, the simplest models combine only the properties of a printing device and a scanner.

a printer

By the method of printing, MFPs are divided into:

  • laser - devices that are distinguished by high-speed printing in combination with good quality are widely used for use in organizations;
  • LED or thermo-sublimation ones are expensive, productive units that are most often purchased by professional advertising agencies and photo salons. Thanks to the special technology of printing, the highest quality is achieved when printing images;
  • inkjet - these devices provide excellent quality when printing graphics and photos, due to which they are widely used in photo salons.

And also there are devices for color, black and white printing of documents or copies.

dot matrix printers

A multifunctional device when used in the office and at home gives users a number of advantages such as:

  1. Convenience of accommodation. Due to its small dimensions, it does not take up much space in the room. Even in a small room it is much easier to place one device instead of three different ones.
  2. Saving materials. Thanks to the combination of several devices in one, the user does not have to buy three different cartridges for a copier scanner or printer, but it will be enough to buy one for an MFP.
  3. Low cost of the device. Even if you purchase an MFP with advanced functionality, all the same, the amount spent on this unit will be less than the amount needed to purchase three different devices.

In addition to the obvious advantages for multifunction devices, the disadvantages are also characteristic:

  • if one of the components of such a device fails, the office or user loses several devices at once;
  • low copy speed.

Similarities and differences between the MFP and the printer

We will determine how the MFP differs from the printer, for this it is necessary to conduct a comparative analysis of the functions and characteristics of these two devices.

differences between the MFP and the printer

Define the similarities of the multifunction device with the printer:

  1. Printers and MFPs have the same methods for printing paper. And multifunctional devices, and devices for printing are inkjet, laser or LED.
  2. Both MFPs and printers provide the ability to print color or black and white texts or images.
  3. For these two devices, ink cartridges for inkjet types, or with toner in the form of powder for laser, are used as consumables. For LED or thermosublimation representatives of these devices, toner in the form of crystals is used.
  4. Both devices can be connected either to a computer via USB or special ports, or through a network connection.
  5. These units can be used to print photos.
  6. For the MFP and printer, one of the important characteristics is print resolution, which is measured in dots per inch. In order to get a good photo or graphic when printing, you need to purchase a device with a large extension.
  7. Depending on the printing methods, different types of MFPs, like the printer, have different printing speeds. Print speed is determined by the number of pages printed per minute.

There are a lot of similarities between the multifunction device and the printer, but there are significant differences. The most important distinguishing feature of the MFP is that in addition to printing text or graphic objects, this device is also able to scan a document, photocopy it, or receive / send a document by fax. What no printer can do except print a document. Therefore, when choosing a multifunctional device, in addition to the requirements for a printing device, it is important to pay attention to its characteristics as a scanner, fax and copy machine. For example, the quality of a scanned copy of a document will depend on the extension of the scanning device. For the office, it is better to purchase multifunction devices with an extension for the scanner from 2400 dpi.

MFP

Which is better - MFP or printer

MFP or printer - which is better for the office or for the home, it is impossible to say unequivocally. It all depends on the purpose for which the form of a particular device is acquired. If the user is the owner of a small office, then it is more advisable to purchase a device that combines the functions of several office equipment devices, this will save money. Compact placement of this device is also important, since one device will take up much less space in the room than three or four different units. For home users, the purchase of an MFP will be a profitable investment. Moreover, a multifunctional device with scanner and copier functionality will also be useful for students of family members. In cases where from time to time it is only necessary to print documents, photographs it is better to purchase a conventional laser or inkjet printer.

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a printer

pros:

  • high print resolution, several option values;
  • specialized software for automatic scaling and printing on media with specific characteristics;
  • high speed job processing;
  • in most cases, multiple paper feed points;

minuses:

  • only one print function with advanced features;
  • for laser color devices, the price of a printer and supplies.

MFP

pros:

  • one-button operations (scanning, converting to PDF, recognition, photocopy);
  • ease of setup;
  • cost (considering multifunctionality).

minuses:

  • low resolution printing and scanning;
  • low speed of processing print jobs from a computer;
  • cheap sensors, scanning with insufficient color range;
  • expensive repairs.